Liposome encapsulation services:

Liposomes are small synthetic molecules which can fuse with cell membranes and are able to release their contents and are used both in vitro and in vivo. Transfection of liposomes (lipofection) results in liposome-mediated delivery of nucleic acids (read more: transfection resource). For instance, liposomes can improve drug delivery for a therapeutic vaccine. The most common application of liposomes is for gene transfer (also known as “cell transfection”) into cancer cells, which may modulate the activity of tumor suppressor genes or decrease the activity of oncogenes.

Commercial liposome encapsulation services are available from Altogen Labs, the CRO company located in Austin, TX and known for preclinical GLP laboratory services and associated scientific expertise.

Creation of liposomes is dependent on their lamellarity (amount of lipid bilayers), size, and preparation method. Long-circulating liposomes have additional molecular moieties. Development of the functional liposome involves a lot of optimization and troubleshooting to develop a molecule which will efficiently deliver the functional molecular entity. Small molecule drugs, plasmid DNA, RNA, mRNA, proteins, or small RNA molecules (siRNA and microRNA) may be encapsulated, but require different liposomes. Different routes of delivery (topical, oral, pulmonary or parental) influence the encapsulation formulations and thus need to be taken into account.

By encapsulating into liposome, the therapeutic potential of certain drugs may be enhanced and therapeutic effect prolonged (extended release profile), thus positively impacting many forms of treatment and patient outcomes. There are currently 8 liposome-based drugs approved by FDA and few are in clinical trials.

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